Wayne Grey did play for Orient, but never got a Championship winning goal there
Chelmsford City manager and former Southend United midfielder Glenn Pennyfather has signed an ex-player in the shape of Wayne Gray, who had been scoring regularly in the Blue Square Bet Premier at Cambridge United this season, so has decided to take a step down to the Conference Town but
there are rumours of financial problems at the Abbey Stadium.
However, the Clarets, beaten by Blues reserves on penalties in the last round of the Essex Senior Cup, are mounting a serious promotion challenge.
Now 30, and dubbed 'The New Pelé' by the Roots Hall faithful, well some of them anyway, he famously grabbed the goal that beat Bristol City which won the Shrimpers the Football League One title on a glorious sunny day in May 2006, (I think it was sunny, the drink had been flowing for a while before hand!)
Wayne has arrived in the county capital having been released from Cambridge just before training begun for this evening's away game with Rushden & Diamonds, and despite his successful spell in the university town.
He will be available for Chelmsford's next match at Dorchester Town Tuesday evening.
Pennyfather told www.chelmsfordcityfc.com: "We're delighted to have secured a striker of Wayne's quality as he had several options to go elsewhere but chose to join us. I've known about him from his time with Orient and Southend and he gives me something different up top as well as offering bags of experience which our younger strikers will also be able to benefit from."
| 1 | Braintree Town | 22 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 44 | 16 | 51 | +28 | ||||
| 2 | Welling United | 24 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 49 | 30 | 46 | +19 | ||||
| 3 | Bromley | 26 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 20 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 37 | 38 | 45 | -1 | ||||
| 4 | Farnborough FC | 24 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 45 | 30 | 44 | +15 | ||||
| 5 | Chelmsford City | 21 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 44 | 25 | 42 | +19 | ||||
| 6 | Ebbsfleet United | 22 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 37 | 24 | 42 | +13 | ||||
| 7 | Eastleigh | 22 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 41 | 24 | 40 | +17 | ||||
Wayne begun his career as a youth player with Wimbledon before going on loan to Swindon Town, Port Vale, Leyton Orient and Brighton & Hove Albion during his late teens and early twenties.
This was followed by over 80 games as a Shrimper where he quickly became a fan's favourite, many felt it was Tilly's greatest error not offering him the two-year contract he wanted that led to him leaving south-east Essex to go West and missing our ill-fated season in the second tier, and he's since
played a century of games with Yeovil Town and Leyton Orient, returning to Brisbane Road in 2007.
The Grey Files
| Full name | Wayne William Gray | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 7 November 1980 (1980-11-07) | ||
| Place of birth | Camberwell, London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Cambridge United | ||
| Number | 16 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wimbledon | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999-2004 | Wimbledon | 75 | (6) |
| 2000 | → Swindon Town (loan) | 12 | (2) |
| 2000 | → Port Vale (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2001-2002 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 15 | (5) |
| 2002 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 4 | (1) |
| 2004-2006 | Southend United | 83 | (20) |
| 2006-2007 | Yeovil Town | 46 | (11) |
| 2007-2009 | Leyton Orient | 54 | (8) |
| 2009-2010 | AFC Hornchurch | 9 | (4) |
| 2010 | Grays Athletic | 8 | (1) |
| 2010-2011 | Cambridge United | 24 | (7) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:46, 28 December 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gray_(footballer)